‘Goodwill factor robbed us of edge in 1978-9 series’

ZAHEER WAS GOOD, WE MADE HIM GREAT

We didn’t bowl as well as we could have, and that decided the series. It seemed surreal at times and our manager Fatehsinghrao Gaekwad was so bent upon creating goodwill that we forgot at times we were there to compete against arch rivals. He kept emphasising it was a goodwill tour, we needed to be pleasant and we were sucked into that atmosphere.

We couldn’t summon the ferocity which was needed to quell Pakistan’s advance in a historic series. Gaekwad did what he needed to do in his capacity and created a lot of goodwill in Pakistan but cricketwise it softened our edges.

It was a Zaheer Abbas series — he made many runs on that tour. But I don’t have the slightest doubt we could have contained him effectively. He was a very good batsman but we made him appear a master batsman by not bowling as well as we were capable of. We allowed him to run away with big scores. We didn’t bowl well at all.

EVEN THEN, MIANDAD TRIED HIS ANTICS

Javed Miandad, even in those early days, was irrepressible. He wasn’t intimidating — only full of antics and it might have distracted a few of our men. I remember distinctly my innings in the Lahore Test, where I held up one end for a couple of hours and there came a time when it appeared I would be undefeated at the draw of stumps.

As I stayed put, the frustration of Pakistan players was palpable. Miandad kept chirping away at close quarters. He positioned himself at silly point and whenever Iqbal Qasim would come to bowl his stuff, he would keep telling me, ‘‘This is not the way to play spin. You should play like this.’’ Finally I told him, ‘‘Ask the bowler first to learn to bowl proper spin before I start taking your lessons.’’ I don’t think I was riled by his behaviour but I was dismissed with just two overs remaining for the day’s play!

BOUNCERS, THE OTHER INTIMIDATORY TACTIC

There were a few incidents on the tour, even a game was awarded by us in protest at the bowling tactics of the Pakistan team. I remember a game in Multan where GR (Viswanath), that most gentlemanly of cricketers, was peppered with a barrage of bouncers. The Pakistan bowlers did everything in their powers to rile him. But Vishy was a picture of calm and poise. He wasn’t shaken or upset when he returned to the pavilion. Typical of him, he looked at it as a funny incident. ‘‘The ball was hardly pitching, it was only flying’’, said Vishy calmly before removing his gear.

THE ATMOSPHERE WAS GREAT

Beyond the field, we were greeted with genuine warmth by the Pakistan people. Even though cricketwise it wasn’t successful, I considered myself lucky to have been still around when cricket ties between the two countries was finally resumed after 26 years. We didn’t face any threat, there was no security breach and, to tell the truth, we felt as if we were touring one of our own cities. Looking at the hospitality and affection, I couldn’t help wonder why it took us so long to return to Pakistan.

(Cricket News)